Thursday, November 24, 2011

Eat that turkey!


Happy Thanksgiving from a bunch of rowdy 5th graders. Eat, be merry, be thankful, & hopefully your mean doesn't end in a crazy food fight. Don't just stare at that turkey like the picture above, eat it!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Glad that's done

'Badger, Badger' was finally listed on lulu.com this past week. I'm extremely happy because 1st of all the process to get the book up on the site was terrible. My internet signal was lost multiple times, I had to change the back cover of the book, then there were some other trouble shooting problems. 2nd, this work done on this book has been very time consuming, & the idea that I am officially done working on it, well for now anyway, is a great load off of my back. 3rd, this gives me time to focus on the 3rd installment of Grade 5 and time to work on the plan I have for the series. 


I don't want to take anything away from my work on Badger, Badger, because it was a fun experience. This was the 1st children's picture book that I've ever written, but my ultimate goal is & will always be to get Grade 5 published. And hopefully Badger, Badger can help aid  that goal in one way or another.


  Link to purchase 'Badger, Badger' on lulu.com

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Another sneak peak

Now that you've seen the cover, here are some interiors. I will be making a push to get this bad boy on lulu.com for purchase shortly before the holiday season kicks into full gear. I currently have hard copies that I've had printed at my local print shop, shout out to 'Clark Graphics' for doing an excellent job. So hopefully in the near future there will be updates related to Badger, Badger being available for purchase online.




Thursday, October 27, 2011

'Badger, Badger' is done!


The children's picture book I've been working on titled 'Badger, Badger' (above) is finally done. I went to the print shop today to approve the proof for the book. It was pretty awesome to actually hold the book in my hands. What a great way to start the end of a very tiresome week. And the most exciting part... I'll get to pick up copies of Badger, Badger tomorrow! This will be just in time for the 'My City, My Biz' expo, in which I will be selling the books at on Saturday. Behave Like a Kid! 

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Children's Book


Over the course of this month, I have been getting a lot of work done on the children's picture book. Here's a snippet. The book will possibly be named 'Badger, Badger' or 'Help Me Out.' This project has honestly been different from anything I've done for Grade 5, & I'm pretty happy about that.


With all that's been going on, being exhausted mentally & physically due to my current job situation, my mom being in the hospital for several days due to the discover she has diabetes, & I think I'm getting sick on top of that, it's great to have a creative outlet. I think this book is just what I needed.


It's simple, yet it's challenging in a way that Grade 5 isn't. When working on a book that has so few words & one illustration per page, those words & illustrations become so much more important unlike the hundreds of illustrations & words that go into a Grade 5 comic. And there's much more to come. 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Go For It

Over the course of this month, I've been debating if creating a children's picture book would be a good idea for my career. I'm being forced to make one for a college course anyways, so I figured why not take advantage of an opportunity & just--- go for it. 


Well, 1st of all devoting time to create a children's book would not only take time away from my Grade 5 work, & my personal life, it would be a much different experience for me from a creative view point. And honestly, that's kind of scary. That means a ton of research in checking out the market, reading about how to write & illustrate for a younger audience. But then again---


I teach pre-school. I'm around that younger audience five days a week. I've read dozens upon dozens of children's books, & good ones at that. 


After changing my story concept, & re-working a few things, I believe that I have a good project on my hands. I plan to share that project & the process it takes to complete it here on this blog. This is an excellent opportunity for me to try to expand upon what I'm already doing in creating stories for children. It's just that the children I'm creating this book for are a whole different kind  of animal, you know. The kind that pee on themselves.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

A Review Came In







Issue #2 received a review yesterday. And It was a very solid review. I really appreciated the words of the columnist. It gives me an opportunity to look at my comic through some one else's eyes, & get a different perspective, especially since issue #2 has been out for some month's now. 


One thing Greg wrote about was the way the characters spoke in the comic. "The biggest problem with the writing is that the kids don’t necessarily sound like fifth- and fourth-graders. Crayton makes them far wittier than I think they should be, and they make several cultural references that I don’t think they would make---When he has them make dumber jokes – they wonder if their teacher got dressed in the dark – it feels “righter,” because kids like silly and somewhat cruel things and aren’t as clever as they think they are (actually, that’s true for most people, when you think about it)."


But honestly, writing kids to sound like convincing kids, can be hard while still keeping the the entertainment value high, b/c if they resemble children to closely, an older audience may not want to read them at all. And if there voices aren’t authentic enough, then they don’t sound like children at all, & that defeats the purpose of the book. I will always strive to make the children sound like children. 


And he also talks about the art of the comic. Greg states, "The art is very cartoony, with Crayton giving his characters large, expressive eyes and exaggerated faces. He does an interesting job with the extremes of fifth grade – everything is heightened and intense, much like elementary school itself. The biggest problem with Crayton’s art is that he has a lot of characters in the book, and too often the adults don’t look much different than the kids, so it’s occasionally hard to tell everyone apart. The main characters are strongly defined, but the ancillary characters aren’t as much--- While Crayton’s rough pencil work could use some improvement, he certainly knows how to tell a story, working well within the framework of a traditional comic but knowing when to break out of it as well."


I agree with Greg in that the art is very cartoony. But when I designed the book, I meant it to be similar in art of that to a comic strip, lately the art has developed some Japanese Manga influences, but that has only improved the art work. I will continue to work at the art work from a technical standpoint, but I will not change the style of art. And I will always search for ways to tell a better story, that is always my focus. 


I've read through the review a few times, & I appreciate Greg taking time out of his day to write about my comic. Here it is below :-)

Grade 5 #2 Review by Comics Should Be Good

Monday, September 19, 2011

Possible cover for issue #3

More than likely the final cover for issue #3. Already posted this over on facebook some time back, but some how it didn't makes its way over here on the blog. Well here it is. It's my favorite cover to date. Rightfully so. I had a ton of fun working on this one, & the water color work I did on the cover has inspired me to start work on a children's book also. You know the drill. Behave like a kid!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

WHY I DO THIS: because children should enjoy comics.

This article posted by Mike Bullock (link below) is one reason I decided to create a comic series designed for children. Comics are an incredible art form, & a lot time they don't get their due. The medium can be seen as 'geeky' or as one person told me in high school, "why are you reading that? Aren't comics for kids?" 


And because of that stigma, there has been such a push to make comics a serious adult medium. I grew up on comics, & I would like to continue to see children read comics. Its an awesome medium for children, but there needs to be a focus on good creators creating good comics for children. The big players in the industry don't want to devote time creating comics for children. But they should, because you need to always give attention towards a young audience no matter the medium, comics, movies, etc. That helps keep your medium alive, by adding new blood.


And there are new creators creating great  stories for kids, & I want to be a part of that. Who knows, maybe Grade 5 can be mentioned in an article like this. Until then, check out the article link below & behave like a kid!

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/columns/p/detail/comics-dont-like-kids-these-days

Sunday, August 7, 2011

WHY I DO THIS: FOR MY FRIENDS



If you would've told the 5th grade version of me, that one of my best friends would have moved to Arizona, one would have been married off & seen very seldom, one would have become a firefighter & due to his schedule, I only see him infrequently, & lastly, that one would have been removed from life almost entirely until recently. I would have told you to shut up & let me play kick ball, because I wouldn't have believed it, especially when I saw these guys every day. Well, at least monday through Friday.


But the reality of it is, friends grow up & create lives for them selves, it doesn't matter if you've known them since 1st grade or not. This is a great thing, but for some one who is very close with his best friends & was used to seeing them every day, its an unpleasant feeling knowing that it will be extremely rare that we will all be in the same place at the same time ever again.


So, when I decided to create 'Grade 5' I knew first & foremost that the series was going to be about my friends. I wanted this to act as tribute to a time when my friends & I could sit across from each other at a lunch table & discuss what we were planning to do during the weekend, instead of texting/ facebooking each other from miles away. 


And even though the characters are at the point where they are taking a life of their own, & sounding less like the friends that I grew up with, this is something that I can always look back on to be remind me of a nostalgic time that I will never get back, but one that I was very blessed to have. Because honestly, not every one has four best friends that they can afford to be stupid with. 


-Jason